What a 'typical' response. Yes - Disney is testing us and will continue to creep the thermostat up until they see bookings decline as a result - but their ultimate hope is that we won't notice or care and they can eliminate the AC all together . Did Disney have anything to do with JFK?
Sorry I wasn't clear. I did not mean that Disney was going to bump it up a degree every year (though it's possible...).
I was pointing out that if bumping the air up 3 or 4 degrees doesn't mean anything to you, maybe bumping it up 6 or 7 would.
I bet there are 1,000x the people who do not have their WDW vacation effected by the AC than there are those who obsess over Disney stealing their "magical air".
Are you sure its that low? That's .1%. Maybe if the change was only one degree.
Even so, MK's annual attendance is about 15 million. That means 15000 attendees are "obsessed". How many others are not obsessed, but are simply less comfortable than they would have otherwise been? Every negative tick mark on an individual's personal vacation ledger makes them less likely to come back and spend money.
The A/C change may not be enough to drive thousands of guests away, but it does make thousands of guests more likely to stay away. Maybe its the combination of less hours and A/C that does it. Maybe it takes A/C, hours, EE, and Mickey Butter....
From the guest experience point of view, its a no-brainer. Cutting A/C helps nobody, and hurts at least some guests.
From an efficiency point of view (#4 on the priority list), if you're going to cut it in Florida, you'd better be VERY sure you aren't losing very many guests as a result.
Another side-note... do you think they checked into the effect the higher humidity has on the interiors of the buildings? Would be a hidden cost, easy to miss when thinking short term savings...